In-patient health care for cardiac symptom diagnosis includes ECG and EKG analysis via electrode patches applied to a patient's skin near the heart. An Einthoven triangle is established by applying an electrode patch near the hip, preferably over non-musculature and another two electrode patches are applied to the chest. Multiple electrode patches help to establish where an ECG signal originates, which direction it is traveling and to establish a common ‘ground.’ Therefore it is common to apply 8, 12 and even 18 electrode patches to a patient who is non-ambulatory and wired to the diagnostic equipment. The multiple electrodes are commonly color coded in order to assist in establishing signal direction and ground.
Conventionally, the electrodes are connected by dedicated wires straight to the diagnostic equipment but getting from the patient even to a bedside piece of diagnostic equipment requires at least several feet of wires. However, leads can act as antennae for noise and produce artifacts of the desired signals. Lead artifacts distort a biological signal and must be filtered or ignored in the diagnostic process. Minimizing artifacts therefore becomes a priority in signal integrity and signal processing at the receiver. It is therefore desirable to minimize the lead wires to the multiple electrodes for cleaner signals and more accurate diagnostics.
Out-patient services cannot connect the electrode lead wires directly to the diagnostic equipment since it is not practical for a patient to carry the diagnostic equipment around with them. Therefore, a transceiver worn on the patient's wrist or carried in a pocket receives the multiple leads from the multiple electrode patches and communicates with the diagnostic equipment. However, this does not solve the lead artifact issues though it may shorten the lead wires from the electrode patches to the receiver carried with the patient.
Standard snap leads are a convenient and quick way of hooking a patient up to a diagnostic piece of equipment. However, it is also common for the electrode patches to come off the skin due to the leads pulling on them in outpatient everyday use and in-patient movements. This loss of contact results in loss of telemetry and exposes the patient to downtime and risks an unmonitored cardiac event in the interim time period(s). Also, when a patient takes a shower the lead wires are usually detached from the electrode patches because the receiver is not waterproof. This also exposes the patient to unattended telemetry downtime.
Cell phone computing power is providing many opportunities for analyzing telemetry data. What required a server or specialized equipment in the past may now be at least conceptualized on cell phone technology. However, medical grade telemetry and analysis is not yet available through cell phones alone. There is therefore a long felt need for a device and method to minimize lead wires from an electrode patch and allow a patient to take a shower and go about normal life as much as possible that has gone unmet until the present Applicants' disclosure.